Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Maddux

Greg Maddux is my favorite player ever. I tended to be more drawn to position players as a child, but over time, that changed. Even when I was younger though, Maddux was an exception. I know the strikeout is the "best" out, but growing up, I didn't want to be accused of fascism, so I liked pitchers who got grounders and weak pop flies, or if they struck guys out, did it by painting the corners. I realize there's a bit more to it than that, and a bit more to Maddux too, but I was a good pitcher without being able to throw very hard, and I loved me some Greg Maddux. In 1998 I came across a box score for a game in which Maddux had thrown a shutout and used fewer than 100 pitches. I loved that, and ever since I've kept my eye out for games like that, calling such a performance a "Maddux."

Requirements for a Maddux:

The starting pitcher must toss a shutout, and he must throw fewer than 100 pitches.

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OTHER POSTS WITH INFO ON THE MADDUX:For how many Madduxes each team has thrown and had thrown against it, click here.For the 13 Madduxes thrown by Greg Maddux himself, click here.For pitchers with multiple Madduxes in the same season, click here.For teammates with Madduxes in the same season, click here.For the two times a Maddux was thrown on Opening Day, click here.For the youngest and oldest pitchers to throw a Maddux, click here.For pitchers who lost a Maddux due to unearned runs, click here.For the fewest career games until one's first Maddux, click here.For the seven times multiple Madduxes were thrown on the same day, click here.

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LAST UPDATED: May 8, 2018

Allow me to tip my hat to Baseball-Reference and their Play Index. It's made compiling everything that follows possible (I've come a long way from scribbling them down in a notebook when I happened to notice one in the box scores).

Madduxes are fairly rare. There have been an average of roughly eleven per season going back to 1988, when MLB pitch counts began to be kept consistently. There are 305 Madduxes on record since then, thrown by 194 different pitchers.

Career Maddux leaders (1988-present):

1. Greg Maddux 13

2. Zane Smith 7

3. Bob Tewksbury 6

t4. Tom Glavine 5

t4. Roy Halladay 5

How can you not love a stat with that leader board?! Active notables include Henderson Alvarez, Bartolo Colon, and James Shields, with 4 each, and Josh Beckett, Derek Holland, Tim Hudson, Paul Maholm, Jason Marquis, and Ervin Santana each have 3.

On the opposite end of things, the fewest Madduxes in any season is 3, in 1999, and again in 2016.

During the 2000s, the highest total is 13, in 2009. While scoring has been down in the last few seasons and pitching numbers look better, I doubt the Maddux is going to rise to the level it was at 20-25 years ago. This is due in part to strikeout totals climbing, making it more difficult to finish a game on so few pitches.

Other Maddux data:

* It's hard to strike too many guys out in a Maddux, because of course Ks require a minimum of three pitches. Yet, on 15 different occasions, a pitcher has managed to hit a double-digit strikeout total while twirling a Maddux. The record: 12 strikeouts, by Cliff Lee, on April 14th, 2011, against the Nationals. UPDATE: The strikeout record was tied by Carlos Carrasco on September 17, 2014.

* On the other hand, it's tough to record a shutout without any strikeouts. Zane Smith, Tom Glavine, and Rick Porcello are the only pitchers to throw a Maddux without striking anyone out.

* Walks can kill a potential Maddux. 176 of the 305 Madduxes since 1988 (57.7%) were accomplished with zero walks. Mike Witt and Chuck Finley were each able to throw one while walking four batters.

* On August 3rd, 2004, Carlos Silva somehow threw a Maddux while giving up 11 hits. They were all singles, and he got four double-play balls. Living dangerously, Carlos, living dangerously.

* 32 Madduxes have been 1-0 games, including Roy Halladay's performance on September 6th, 2003, when he became the only pitcher to throw an extra-inning Maddux, going 10 frames on just 99 pitches.

* The highest-scoring Maddux was a 16-0 contest in 2005, in which Mike Hampton worked around what must have been a lot of sitting in the dugout time to lock down the Maddux.

* As I said, there are only full regular season pitch count records since 1988, so that's the starting point I'm using for things here, but pitch counts were kept in the postseason a few years earlier than that. For the years in which we have official counts, there has been just one postseason Maddux though, thrown by Bret Saberhagen in Game 7 of the 1985 World Series, when he shut the Cardinals out on just 92 pitches and won himself World Series MVP honors. (Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series also reportedly took just 97 pitches.)

* Just as some no-hitters are better than others, some Madduxes are a little more impressive than the rest. 99 pitches is accomplishment enough, but some guys were able to do it on far fewer pitches.

Fewest pitches in a Maddux:

1. Jon Lieber 78

t2. Aaron Cook 79

t2. Bob Tewksbury 79

t2. Kevin Brown 79

5. Doug Drabek 80

I would also point out that on August 13, 2006, a 40-year-old Greg Maddux pitched 8 shutout innings on just 68 pitches. Sadly, manager Grady Little would not let him finish what could have been the record. Was that the worst pitching decision of Little's career? I say yes.

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Why do I bring all this up now? In San Francisco this evening, Cliff Lee and Matt Cain had an absolute duel. Through nine innings, Lee had thrown just 89 pitches. and Cain had been almost as efficient, with 91 pitches. Double-Maddux!!!

Except, you have to pitch the entire game, and with neither pitcher having allowed a run, the game continued. Cain came out of the game for a pinch-hitter at that point, but Lee went back out for the 10th. That was something of a big deal, as no pitcher had pitched a 10th inning since Aaron Harang in 2007. The Phillies still hadn't given him any run support though, and he was at 102 pitches by the time he finished the inning.

The first Maddux of 2012 will have to wait. Perhaps Lee or Cain will go on to throw one their next time out. Maybe Jamie Moyer, who earlier this week became the oldest player in MLB history to record a win, will be the one to do it. It could be Roy Halladay, climbing into a tie for 3rd place along the way. Most likely it will be none of those guys. Someone unexpected will probably be the first to do it this season. That's the beauty of the Maddux, you can never know when it will happen. Not now that Greg has retired, anyway.

Doggie is my all-time favorite pitcher as well. I now have a new all-time favorite statistic. Thanks to you, and thanks to Craig Calcaterra for linking to your blog so I could add this to my treasure trove of baseball knowledge.

Pitch count data seems pretty incomplete before 1988, which is why I chose that as my starting point. I figured it was better to be accurate for a somewhat shorter time frame, instead of a longer frame with missing games. It makes the numbers of guys like Newcombe, Koufax, and Drysdale even more impressive, as they likely threw a few more Madduxes than are shown.

Hey Julian, what is your source? Look up Randy Jones. In 1975 & 1976 alone, he tossed 11 shutouts with line scores that look very Madduxian. The number 73 stands out in my mind. Not sure if it's the pitch count for one of his gems, or if it's the average pitch speed (when I said "tossed" 11 shutouts, I meant that literally).

Actually, this is the 3rd Maddux of Maholm's career (the other two both came while he was with Pittsburgh). He and James Shields are now the only pitchers to throw a Maddux in each of the last two seasons.

No, you've got to pitch a complete game to get the Maddux, and while Kershaw dominated again, he came out after 7 innings last night. He would seem to have a pretty good chance at pitching another one at some this season though!

You don't even need a Maddux tracker, you're always on top of them! 91 pitches for ZImmermann, very impressive stuff. You may recall, Kendrick pitched one last year, so he'd have been a multiple-Maddux throwing pitcher if he could have pulled it off tonight.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. There have been a lot of close calls the last couple weeks (including Matt Harvey last night) and I'd bet we get at least one new one by the end of May. Perhaps Kershaw or Zimmermann tonight will pitch their second of the season.

Add in the fact that Maddux was a GREAT fielder, and could help himself with the bat...decent hitter, and outstanding bunter who could always move a runner along...and he might be the pitcher who got the absolute MOST out of his talent. The only pitchers I can think of who were definitely better were some of the ones with the strong arms and 95+ fastballs. (And there were a lot of pitchers with that kind of arm who weren't nearly as good as Maddux.) Great player, and if I needed a pitching coach, he'd be the first person I would call.

Haha, I was at that 2004 Carlos Silva gem, if memory serves me right, he did it on 84 pitches (while giving up 11 hits???!!!). I left Dome stunned. Looking back, it's even more stunning because it was Carlos freaking Silva.

I wish pitch count records had been fully kept before 1988, it'd be neat to see who threw the most from earlier years. It's neat that the pitch count was documented in the game recap for that one, thanks for sharing the link.

When he retired, I would have thought so, but HOF voting has become such a mess, with blank protest ballots, some feeling there are more deserving candidates than they're allowed to vote for, etc. I think Maddux gets more votes than anyone and coasts in easily, but I can't see him breaking that record anymore.

Time-of-game would be a cool thing to look at, but I don't know of any easy way to do it. I lived in L.A. for a while, and vividly remember driving down to San Diego to see Jake Peavy and Roger Clemens duel (this was in 2005, when Clemens was an Astro). Each of them pitched a complete game, Peavy's was a shutout. The game took 1:53 and on my way driving back to Hollywood I got stuck in Dodger Stadium traffic because their game had only just ended.

I may have found the Maddux pre-pitch-count-era with the fewest pitches, and it's an unbelievable number.

Charlie "Red" Barrett of the Boston Braves threw a 58 pitch 2-hit shutout against the Reds on August 10, 1944. The game only took 1 hr 15 min, making it also the shortest night game in baseball history.

I'm watching the Rays-Yankees game over the weekend and found myself rooting for Chris Archer to get the Maddux (he did - 97 pitches). He began the 9th on 85, leading 1-0. Although the Yanks never threatened, Archer started falling behind in counts. If Gardner doesn't whiff on a TERRIBLE pitch in the dirt for the 2nd out? No Maddux! That night on SportsCenter, as game highlights played, I kept waiting for the announcer to proclaim "The Maddux".

I was out of the country for this one, but excited to find that in its aftermath, Jonah Keri (who has done more to spread word of the Maddux than I'm capable of with my limited reach) mentioned my name on his podcast, while discussing the Rays with Rany Jazayerli.

Stephen Strasburg with a 99-pitch Maddox for his first ever shut out and complete game vs. the Phillies yesterday. Notably, he kept the pitch count down even though he had 10 Ks and a 10-pitch at-bat with Darin Ruf.

Yes, the Padres remain in search of their first no hitter (sorry, I reminded you), but the 8th Maddux in franchise history is still pretty damn good, and Cashner becomes only the 13th pitcher to throw a Maddux while facing the minimum 27 batters.

Do you have a list of 9IP or CGs with the lowest numbers of pitches that do not qualify as a Maddux because the pitcher gave up a run? I remember a 75 pitch gem by Andy Ashby that didn't count because he gave up two runs (still got the win, 7-2: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/06/sports/national-league-roundup-ashby-and-vaughn-turn-in-all-star-efforts.html Not bad for a game at Denver.

I was a 16 year old immigrant to the US in 1990 and had no interest in baseball or other major american sports (because I had no prior exposure to them). My sport of choice was football better known as soccer in this part of the world. Sadly soccer coverage was nonexistent in those days and the internet was a dream in some techies minds. In 1993 a friend introduced me to baseball and it was the slowest game ever!! I couldn't get myself to watch one complete game. And then I heard of the Cy Young award and how this pitcher named Greg Maddux had won it the second straight year. I started watching him pitch (on TBS :-). To me he seemed like the guy next door and he flat-out dominated larger-than-life guys at the plate. He didn't overpower them, he outsmarted them. Not knowing much about the game at the time, Mad Dog literally got me into baseball. From that time on I followed every game he pitched to the end of his distinguished career. What an athlete and exemplary ambassador of the sport.

I want to thank you for this blog cos I had no idea about THE MADDUX. Its another stunning stat to add to his remarkable achievements. I've always wondered if he could be somehow immortalized in the lexicon of baseball...and THIS IS IT!!

I came up with "The Kingman Line," noted for Brian Kingman, the most proud 20-game loser in MLB history. Hence, the Kingman Line is 20 losses in a season. As a fellow terminology inventor (and Greg Maddux admirer), I'd like to see "the Maddux" gain recognition. Good luck.

As opposed to the kind of shutout that occurs when the pitcher isn't credited with a complete game? Saying "He threw a complete game shutout." is like saying "He scored a six point touchdown." IT'S THE ONLY KIND.

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I've been a huge baseball fan since I got my first mitt at the age of five. Like any good blogger, my earliest writing came from inside my parents' basement, where at the age of seven I put together newspaper articles to cover the games I played with my vast collection of baseball cards. I love going to games at whatever stadium I find myself near, and can often be found staying up way later than I ought to, watching the end of a late game from the west coast. I also teach elementary school, run a lot of miles, see a lot of movies, and daydream about being Han Solo. I can be reached at jasonlukehart@gmail.com